Brazilian government postpones Petrobras shareholders' meeting following coup attempt by centrist bloc and Minister Alexandre Silveira against Lula's administration.

247 - The federal government decided this Wednesday (1) to postpone the shareholders' meeting that will elect the board of directors of Petrobrás. The announcement comes after parliamentarians from the Centrão and the The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD), pulled a fast one on President Lula and changed the list of nominees for the board, replacing names trusted by the government with people linked to the financial market.. 

This pro-market composition was orchestrated by BTG Pactual bank, represented by Bruno Bianco, a lawyer who worked in the Temer and Bolsonaro governments. The main objective would be to block changes to Petrobras' current fuel pricing policy. 

The Centrão managed to put in list from the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira (PSD), and his allies: Pietro Adamo Sampaio Mendes, Chairman of the Board, Carlos Eduardo Turchetto Santos, Vitor Eduardo de Almeida Saback and Eugênio Tiago Chagas Cordeiro.

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Nominated by Minister Alexandre Silveira, the current Secretary of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), Pietro Mendes, was secretary of the ministry during Jair Bolsonaro's government, when the department was headed by Admiral Bento Albuquerque.

Petrobras president Jean Paul Prates therefore suffered a defeat when names like the president of Fiesp, Josué Gomes, and the economist Eduardo Moreira were vetoed.

A The dissatisfaction with the proposals was voiced by the Unified Federation of Oil Workers (FUP)."Because they are names linked to Bolsonaro's ideology, the financial market, and in favor of privatizations," says the organization's general coordinator, Deyvid Bacelar.